A New Chapter
by MiraiMera
Summary: Movie-verse. Just after the curse breaks and Sophie returns Howl's heart, Howl, Sophie, and their family must return to their lives as the war ends. Set just after the end of the film. In-Progress.


Author's Note:

I do not own "Howl's Moving Castle". It is the property of Diana Wynne Jones, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, and Disney/Pixar.

Also, this is my first time writing fanfiction in years, and please be forgiving if my writing is somewhat rusty.

I love Howl's Moving Castle, and after recently re-watching the movie, I found myself wondering what happens to the "family" after the ending, so this is my attempt to imagine it. I have based this fiction strictly off the movie, with some aspects of the book to flesh out the concepts and story of the film.

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Chapter 1

"Howl, what are we going to do now?" Sophie Hatter asked the handsome young wizard standing beside her as she watched the turnip-turned-prince hop away on a magical pole back toward his homeland. Just moments ago Sophie's kiss transformed her scarecrow friend back into his human form, and he was now headed back to his home in order to end the war caused by his mysterious absence.

"We rebuild the castle of course!" Howl replied energetically. He turned to face his unusual family and continued, "But, that may take weeks, so we need to find a place to stay in the meantime. I don't suppose anyone has any ideas?"

Markl, the old Witch of the Waste, and the dog Heen looked at each other expectantly and then shook their heads. Sophie, however, looked as if she was deep in thought for a moment, and then said, "We could stay with my mother and her new husband. She told me that he was wealthy, so I would imagine his home could accommodate us."

Howl clapped his hands onto Sophie's shoulders, grinning from ear to ear. "Alright! We will stay with your family unto Calcifer and I manage to rebuild my heap of junk of a castle" the raven-haired wizard jokingly said, winking at his starlight haired love.

"But what about the airships and the bombs? The city's not safe!" Markl asked, looking at the remaining ships hovering above the city and the bright flames and thick smoke obscuring the view.

"My mother's home should be safe enough. She mentioned that she lives just outside of the city on a private estate, so it should be out of danger from the airships." Sophie replied. "But I'm not sure where it is exactly."

"Don't worry my dear, I will take care of that." Howl said, still grinning and his voice smooth as silk. Sophie's heart skipped a beat at the mere sound of his voice, as it had been doing a lot lately.

The wizard stuck his hand in his pant's pocket and pulled out a short gold chain with a crystal hanging from one end of it. He held it out in front of him and closed his eyes as his companions watched with mild curiosity. As they watched, they noticed the crystal start to sway, at which point Howl reopened his eyes and glanced at the crystal. He promptly stuck it back in his pocket and walked away from the group, motioning them to follow. "This way" he said.

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For hours the group walked, with Howl occasionally taking out his crystal pendulum to consult it, and then adjust their direction according to it. Truly, they were not that far from their destination, but with an old witch and an old dog in tow, they were forced to travel at a very slow pace. As they walked, they would look to the city to see the airships leaving one by one and the blaze slowly being controlled and put out, the thick black smoke covering the sky.

When they finally came to the expansive estate of Sophie's mother and new step-father, it was already dusk. The wizard lead them through a very lush and beautiful garden to the front steps. Markl carried the asthmatic Heen up the steps to the door, as Howl took the old Witch by the harm to help her along.

"What a polite young man you are" the old Witch said. Howl laughed to himself, thinking how ironic it was for the Witch of the Waste to be calling "Horrible Howl" a "polite" man. He thought also that much of his current situation was quite ironic. Here he was guiding his former lover-turned-bitter enemy and his old master-turned-bitter enemy's dog to the home of his housekeeper's mother, who had aided his master-turned-bitter enemy in her hunt for him. He then sighed and glanced at the girl with starlight hair, and thought to himself that he would take whatever comes, as long as he could be with her, and protect her.

They were greeted at the door by a man who by all appearances must have been a servant or butler and lead inside to a sitting room, where they were all very thankful to sit and rest, especially the Witch and Heen, both of whom were quite exhausted at their old age.

Just a few moments later, a beautiful blond energetic woman came dashing into the room, throwing herself on Sophie, nearly knocking the wind out of the girl. "Sohpie!" she yelled, "Sophie, darling Sophie! You're safe!" The older woman stepped back and took in the girl before her. "Sophie, you're young again!"

"Yes mother, I'm safe. I'm very happy to see you too." Sophie said, embracing her mother. "Mother," she started as they parted, "Mother, these are my friends." She gestured toward the people sitting around her.

Howl stood up from his seat beside Sophie. "How do you do, Mrs…?" Howl started then trailed off hold out his hand in a gentlemanly way to the woman.

"Oh, don't be silly, you can call me Honey" Honey took Howl's hand, and he leaned in and kissed it.

"Lovely to finally meet you, Miss Honey. My name is Howl Pendragon." Howl straightened back up and released the hand of the now very pale woman in front of him.

"H-Howl…?" Honey had turned very pale indeed, and her eyes had widened into saucers as she stared at the beautiful wizard standing beside her daughter.

"Yes mother, this is the wizard, Howl" Sophie said, "Please don't be alar-" Sophie didn't finish her sentence, because her mother had already fainted and fallen limp on top of her.

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Author's note: I have not written in a very long time, and I'm honestly not sure where I'm going with this, so I would appreciate reviews and creative (but not harsh) criticism. Thank you.


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